As the beloved Super 8 film format turns 50 years old this month we must take pause to look at some of the milestones that have allowed the once popular home movie format to defy obscurity. Now in its 5th decade of continuous use the mighty 50 foot film cartridge has dodged planned obsolesce which is common in the digital arena. Super 8 has a loyal following, and continues to breathe new life as a professional format. It has been used in thousands of professional projects for major television shows (American Idol, American Horror Story, Aquarius, The Academy Awards) theatrical movies (Super8, The Fighter, Argo, JFK, History of the Eagles) music videos (Paul Abdul, Beyounce, Madonna, Black Eyed Peas, John Mellancamp, Neil Young, Miley Cirrus, Justin Beiber), and commercials for major brands (Target, Nike, Coca Cola, Armani). Super 8 film has captured the attention of a new generation wanting a more permanent and archival safe format for recording milestones such as weddings and baby’s first steps, as well as filmmakers who want to continue the tradition of shooting films on film. There is an understanding that in our digital world, an analog reel of film is the only proven archival medium. Properly stored, the film will last 100 years!

A Brief History:

May 1965 marks the official introduction of the Super 8 film format,

which Kodak debuted at the second season of the 1964 New York City Worlds Fair. The genius in the Super 8 system is the unique cartridge loaded film, which could easily be popped into a camera in broad daylight. While many families were beginning to bring home grown cinema into their living rooms as early as the late 1920’s, these first 16mm systems were too expensive for the average middle class family. When regular 8mm came on the scene in 1932, people loved it but research showed that consumers were easily frustrated. It was tricky for the new user to load the film in the dark, shoot off the 25 feet on one side, then go back in the dark, flip it over to the other side and shoot the 25 feet of film on the back side of the roll.

From 1965 to 1985 millions of 50-foot reels were shot of everyday life around the world, which today represents a prolific historical archive of the way we lived. This time machine of “in the moment material” at home, abroad, and in the field is one of our most important national treasures, not only for the families whose relatives are forever present on those reels shot long ago, but also as cultural and historical evidence of some of the greatest moments in modern history. Increasingly we see this archival footage being used in documentaries such as JFK, Selma, The History of the Eagles, as well as news and history programs showcasing thousands of stories, both well known and obscure.

In 1972, film schools and indie filmmakers started to recognize the tremendous production potential Super 8 film had. At that time, the focus was on developing sound and editing capabilities. Bob Doyle, Harvard Professor founded Super8 Sound ™ (listen to my interview) During this time the Super 8 Sync Sound Recorders and editing benches were sold to hundreds of college

and university film programs. It was a complete studio set up, and a milestone in the professional use of Super 8. These students who learned traditional filmmaking on Super 8 before advancing to 16 or 35 mm helped to evolve the format into professional work as they began working in the film industry.

Super 8 Sound Recorder

While some of the biggest directors and cinematographers launched there film careers behind the families home movie camera (Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams, Christopher Nolan, Sam Rami, Ron Howard, Spike Lee) independent and studio filmmakers would shoot Super 8 film on a project given the opportunity that called for the unique look. This was particularly true when shooting flash backs, historical retrospectives, dreams, and what we call the “I’m on drugs” scene.

The evolution of Super 8 going mainstream was often referred to as Hollywood’s best-kept secret, and exploded when Pro8mm (formerly Super 8 Sound. The company moved to California in 1987 and started evolving the use of professional super 8 into the entertainment industry) introduced a line of professional negative film stocks in 1993. Up until that time, the Kodak film stocks were limited to only reversal film, which was suitable for consumer home movies, but had a limited selection of ISO’s and grain structures. The thought was if we Pro8mm (history of) could convert our slitting machine that we previously used to make the magnetic full coat audiotape for the Super8 Sound Recorders, than we could start slitting 35mm professional film stocks and put them into reloadable cartridges. With in a few months, Pro8mm had a full line of Kodak and Fuji 35mm professional stocks, spooled down to 50 feet and loaded in cartridges so they would work in any Super 8 camera. We hit the ground running, and for over 20 years Super 8 negative film has been a part of thousand of projects including numerous MTV and VH-1 shows, specials, and videos, including almost every episode of Behind The Music and Where Are They Now?

During this time, we also started seeing “extreme sports” brands use Super 8 in their commercials and TV shows. Snowboard, Skater Board, Surf Board, and all the associated clothing lines clothing brands such as Vans, Billabong, Volvo, Roxie loved the look of Super 8 negative film which fits perfectly with the popular “grunge” look of the era. This was followed by other big brands in the fashion industry shooting on Super 8 for Fashion Week, or in store promotions, including Calvin Cline, Armani, Victoria’s Secret, Ralph Lauren, Armani, Tori Burch, Minnetonka Moccasins, and many more.

With so many high profile brands and shows creating projects on Super 8 film during the 90’s, there was no longer the strong association of super 8 as being amateur home movie format. This was accelerated by the progression in scanning technology which continued to fuel the acceptance of Super 8 as a competitive force for studios and independent filmmakers. With better film stocks that were intended for transfer to digital, the power of Kodak Vision Film (1,2, and now 3) and Fuji Vivid, Eterna and Reala scanned on a professional flying sport scanner to a codec such as Pro Res in 1920 x 1080 HD, and now to 2K and beyond, the Power of Super 8 Film

Was unstoppable. The footage could use the same workflow as digital productions and could be easily edited in with program such as Final Cut Pro.

Another milestone Pro8mm came up with in 2001 was to expand the gate of the camera so that you could shoot a super 8 image 16 x 9. Called Max8

Max 8 is the expansion of the camera gate that changes the aspect ration from

4: 3 to 16: 9. We also recenter the optics of the camera. This feature allows you to insert Super 8 film footage in an HD workflow at the correct widescreen configuration. We also have3 a custom Max 8 gate for our scanner, so you can shoot 16: 1 and scan 16: 9. This eliminates cropping or curtains on the side of the frame. This does for Super 8 what Super 16mm did for the traditional 16mm film format – a modern application of analog film, keeping it viable in modern workflows.

The future of Super 8 film remains strong. This year a brand new Super 8 camera was introduced to the market. Logmar

Logmar DIGICANICAL Super 8 camera 2015

Camera Solutions of Demark has brought to market a brand new camera built from the ground up. (listen to my interview with the Logmar team) Currently still in Beta Testing with 40 users world wide, it Is a digicanical Super 8 camera. Features such as

Pin registration & dedicated pressure plate

Crystal synchronized frame rates from 6fps to 48fps

Stereo audio recording on SD-CARD as well as true XLR 48V Phantom power.

As a 35 year veteran of the Super 8 world, I am quick to pick up on trends. This in part comes from the vantage point of having run Pro8mm for so long, answering dozens of inquires on daily basis, and in part by being connected to the pulse of motion picture film products and services worldwide.

One trend that is in the forefront of my radar is how little most people know about film stocks. We get dozens of questions weekly about the shooting and processing of film stocks people buy on eBay, find in or with a used camera they purchased, or in a relatives home. We also get calls from the person who has a “refrigerator full” of film that they are waiting for the right project to come along to shoot it. Sometimes people are looking for film for a cool old 8mm camera that was given to them, or they purchased.

With the production market for Super 8 negative film having grown at a steady rate since we introduced it in 1994, and Kodak jumping in with negative in more recent years, many reversal stocks have been discontinued. Consequently, labs no longer support the chemistry for film stocks that are no longer manufactured. Add to this how many film labs have closed altogether, there are fewer options than ever for lab services.

So what does that mean for the consumer? First, it means that the “killer deal” on eBay for film stock is typically not a good deal at all if it can’t be processed. Unfortunately these are most of the stocks sold on EBay. These stocks include anything that has to be processed VNF chemistry, such as Kodachrome, EM26, Type-G Ektachrome, 7244, 7244, Type A Ektachrome, etc. There are so many in fact that it’s much easier to remember that the only film processing that is currently supported is color reversal is E-6. E-6 is what that great 100D Super 8 Ektachrome stocks was along with the Ektachrome 64T. New reversal super 8 stocks like the Super 8-88 200D are E-6 processed. In the past we have processed some of these old discontinued stocks through our E-6 chemistry, but too often the old films left contaminants in the chemistry that then ruined the processing of subsequent E-6 films. So as a resource for shooting new projects on Super 8, old film is not a great idea.

There is also a lot of 8mm or regular 8 old film around. Old regular 8 has all the problems of old super 8 with the added dilemma of often not being able to identify what stock it actually is. Regular 8 is often not labeled so before it is processed it must be identified to know what chemistry should be used.

On the flip side people often find old rolls of undeveloped film in their archives. Some were never shot. Some were shot but never processed. These unprocessed films can hold family treasures that might be worth pursuing.

Many people are curious about what was the last thing our loved one shot, and an undeveloped reel could turn out to be a family treasure. For most people, they are willing to gamble on the “investment” to see what is on the film.

To be processed the chemistry for these old process must be recreated to a point where the images can be recovered of the film. This is commonly done by processing the film as a black & white negative, which is the root of most film materials. Processing it this way is the safest way to insure you get an image. It is kind of a crapshoot to be sure. In fact on average about 30% of the old films we process have no usable images. For this reason we only charge for the developing of the film up front to cover the cost of the processing. If there are no usable images then there is no point in spending money to transfer the film to digital. And, in case you are curious, the black and white negative will not reveal any images if it is run through a traditional film projector. This is because the material was originally manufactured as a reversal film, but now has been processed as a negative. Film projectors only display images that are “reversal” or “positive”.

Because there is so many different processes that have been invented over the 80 some years of 8mm and super8 there is a lot sorting out that need to go into this process. Chemicals that work for one stock do not work for another. Some film has a backing coating called REM that must be removed before the film is processed. To make a batch of chemicals for a specific type of film is expensive. So to make this work film is collected over several months and when there enough of a particular film type then a run and chemicals are created and the film is processed. The average time is 3 months but sometimes a little longer.

Unlike camera equipment that has a long life span, and certain models can be refurbished to work as good as it when new, and can be found for a great price, film as a life span that may end with the chemicals that process them. It is far better and more economical to start with fresh film and processing purchased from a company like Pro8mm who can help you navigate the waters

There is no arguing that media creators are producing a staggering amount of digital media on their Go Pros, iphones and Black Magic or Sony 4K digital camera.

Yet, Pro8mm, the world leaders in the innovative use of Super 8 film is the busiest it has been in years. With major indie production companies such as Radical Media, MJZ, 44 Blue and 3 Horses and a Mule, and Interloper Pictures initiating new Super 8 film projects, newbie’s are flocking to try their hand at analog filmmaking with the easy to use, cost efficient Super 8 format.

The question then becomes is there a resurgence in the interest to shoot on film because of its proven archival capacity, or, are hipsters and the Millenniums wanting to shoot film before it’s gone?

This interview, full of what I like to call “Philmisms” by Pro8mm president Phil Vigeant offers an opportunity for us to think about the future of film. Like Stephen Spielberg, JJ Abrams and so many other backyard filmmakers who threw out the camera manuals and just experimented to see what worked and what didn’t, the next generation of analog lovers will have the opportunity to experiment and learn the film craft based on over 100 years of motion picture technology.

I believe it’s not the “last shot” for film, but the “best shot” for lovers of celluloid, new opportunities for entrepreneurs who can emerge from the shadows of Kodak and Panavision.

One of the things I love the most about having a weekly radio show such as The Home Movie Legacy Project is getting to interview people who are telling their own stories about what they discovered in their family films, and how it helped them move forward in their lives.This was just the interview I did a couple of weeks ago with Shamey Cramer,

Shamey is an older returning student at Woodbury University as a film student. Five generations of family members involved with photography and newspaper publishing has afforded Shamey to collect a treasure trove of documented family archives going back to the 1860’s. These still images, movies, videos and other ephemera are the basis for his planned docu-series “Heidkamp: A Modern American Tribe”, tracing the journey of his German-Luxembourg ancestors and their American descendants. The first installment will be the story of his mother, Rosemary Heidkamp Cramer.

Shamey was a 2002 Semi-finalist for the Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences; and recently completed his historic love story “Nature of Fire” which details the 15-year affair between 18th century French physicist Emilie du Chatelet and the philosopher Voltaire. The project took fifteen years of research and the dialogue is his own translations of their written words.

Shamey tells about his family, his work on the 1996 Olympics for Kris and Bruce Jenner, his encounters with the Kardashians and how is has used his film skills in your political/human rights work, including the Federation of Gay Games.

Recently, a friend of mine who has been divorced for several years asked me if I would transfer her Wedding Video, so she could watch it on a modern playback medium. She felt it was time to give some closure to this part of her life and she wanted to look with fresh eyes and new life experiences back to her wedding day. She was moving to a new place, getting rid of old clothes, massively purging, and getting ready to change careers. She wisely thought that by watching the wedding video she would be able to gain some additional momentum to move forward as she began this next chapter. When she visited me, about two months later I asked her if she watched the movie. “No”, she said. “I’m not ready”. I thought about this for a minute, without attaching any particular meaning or judgement. I remembered all the clients I had worked with over the years who had also been resistant to watch old home movies. The fear of not knowing what is on the reels manifests itself in the cycle of desire to know and confusion about dealing with emotional scares from the people who have hurt us. Lets face it. There is a lot of pain in the past. We push the hurt way down, until something triggers a memory, and that old stuff comes up. We use imagery to play the tapes in our mind. We rewind them in our head. We press play. We feel the hurt. We hit eject. But the stories are still there. But what if those old tapes aren’t right? What if they are just stories we made up to help us cope? What if we had new evidence that we could extract from a time machine that could capture “life in the moment” and when we revisited it, it revealed new information, more details, or allowed us the opportunity to give new meaning because WE are a different person that we were when the moment was recorded? What if this “time machine we call “HOME MOVIES helped us heal from the hurt, let go of our fear, or allowed us to attach new meaning? What if they challenged everything we believed (up until now) and gave us new insight, so we could shift our focus, transform our understanding, and move forward in our life? What if we could forgive fuller, and clean up a mess or misunderstanding with an ex-spouse, family member or friend. We could have a breakthrough – an ah-ha moment that would allow us to become “unstuck”, and live more joyful, authentic and grateful lives. We could heal and we could forgive. THE POWER OF HOME MOVIES… “Images act as shortcuts to our brains, and that is why visuals are so powerful” – Ekaterina Walter This is exactly what happens when you watch a home movie. These films are the most organic form of physical evidence we have. Our body language, posture, eye contact, facial expressions, shyness or tenacity are all captured , frame by frame. We see how the people in the film treat each other. Like magic, we are back in the moment! People are constantly looking for ways to heal from pain and hurt. We make use of various types of therapy, imagery, regression, hypnosis. We try to access memories that have been blocked and even when we do , how do we know those memories accurately recall the way it happened? In my podcast today, Brittany and I discuss how working in the adult contemporary domains can help you have ah-ha’s where you might be getting stuck in the past. A powerful interview you won’t want to miss! http://bit.ly/1p7zWkb

on August 7th. Nathan is making a documentary that includes archival footage with a cause. The goal is to spread awareness for a rare disease called Miller’s Syndrome. Friends since childhood, Nathan joins forces with his friend Logan Madsen and as filmmaker and subject , they join creative forces to illustrate what daily life is like for someone with this complex rare disease. There are only 30 known cases worldwide, and Logan and his sister Heather both have it. The film makes use of home movies as a powerful visual of what life was like for Logan as a child , and now, how he adapts and copes with this disease that has so many symptoms, including being on the autism spectrum.

As a filmmaker, , Nathan Meir is a talented filmmaker who understands the narrative genre . He raised 25K on Kickstarter.

Every family has the option to store their original home movies in a professional vault at a consumer friendly price

Often times people don’t give much thought about best ways to store their analog media shot on film. If your like many people, your old home movies are in shoeboxes or cartons stored in the attic, basement, or – somewhere. If film is stored properly, meaning away from extreme heat, wet, humidity and dampness, in can last over 100 years. By taking some simple ( and relatively inexpensive steps) you cans tore your private home movies in a Hollywood Vault, right next to

Iconic TV shows. This will slow down the biological decay of film, such as Vinegar Syndrome (when your film starts to smell like an old salad) shrinkage, curling, becoming dry, brittle and cracked, giving it an opportunity to be their for your descendants.

While we always want digital copies in the cloud (Film Storage Wars Part 1), on our hard drives, or even DVD’s, we must protect the original analog material from the elements and natural disasters. Whatever formats may prevail in the future; you always want to create a new digital master fro the original film.

Pacific Title and Archives in Hollywood is a fantastic facility that allows private clients to purchase space in their climatically controlled, archival safe film fault. Away from the elements, including fire, flood, and earthquake. It is EXTREMELY affordable. Listen to my interview with Ken Smith, Director of Client Services to find out about the benefits of storing your precious home movies securely with Pacific Title and Archives

Often time’s people want to know about putting their Home Movies in the cloud.

On the one hand, increasingly people want one version of their home movie legacy scanned as high quality data files such as Pro Res 422 or 4444, which look amazing on our HD flat screens. But at 1 gig a minute, it is not practical for cloud storage. On the other hand, if you made a version of your home movie data files compressed small enough that you could have them in your digital locker (like our expert Phil Vigeant , senior colorist at Pro8mm says, but them on Apple TV, iphone, or smaller) as another back up to your analog originals, hard drive or DVD’s that would be fantastic!

Private cloud storage is an awesome solution to have all our photos, films, documents, and memorabilia in one secure place on the internet. Unlike drop box, icloud or other servers that have been plagued with hacking, lost files and other security issues, now you can share your memories with privacy for an affordable price and know that it will be there forever – literally.

Meet Forever the worlds only Permanent Online Storage Service – preserved for your lifetime plus 100 years. It is different from other cloud storage away from prying eyes and never mined for personal information.

David Keener – Forever

Listen to our podcast and learn from V.P. Dave Keener ,Vice President of Business Development at Forever, Inc. where he brings over 20 years of entrepreneurial experience and leadership in technology, sales and business development to the FOREVER Team.

If you have questions about how to compress your home movies transferred in

“This is a crazy idea but it is a challenge”, says Lasse and Tommy Madsen in reference to the labor of love between a father/son camera design team. In 2009 they launched Logmar Camera Solutions of Denmark , deciding that they would like to work to create some kind of tech project they could work on together.

Father and son team who designed the new LOGMAR Super 8 Camera

Tommy, a mechanical engineer who is soon to retire from is long career and Lasse , an electrical engineer started, like most companies in their garage.Their early projects center around taking the Russian Krasnagorsky 16mm wind-up camera drop in replacement board for that. The first brand new Super 8 film camera to come onto the market in over 30 years, the LOGMAR is equipped with features long absent or never available from legacy Super 8 film equipment.

Logmar Camera Solutions, the company behind this new Super-8 camera advances the use of the format to solve problems that have gone unaddressed in this genre of filmmaking, while adding innovative features that have long been on Super 8 filmmakers wish list. Innovative features include pin regitration that corrects horizontal/vertical motion jitter, and random image defocus . Additionally, the capacity to create sync sound in camera and have a larger film capacity option have also been included.

The Logmar Super 8 camera features include:

Pin registration & dedicated pressure plate

Crystal synchronized frame rates from 6fps to 48fps

Stereo audio recording on SD-CARD as well as true XLR 48V Phantom power.

This is a game changer for anyone who loves shooting analog film, especially Super 8 Film ! For more information on the LOGMAR Super 8 Camera, or the Beta Test Program , email info@pro8mm.com. Pro8mm will be the exclusive North America distributors of the LOGMAR camera.

What we can learn from Elvis about creating a Home Movie LEgacy that lives!

Have you ever been to Graceland? I must admit, it was never on my bucket list of things I had to see, but how can you be in Memphis and not stop by for a peek? After all, no matter if you are a fan of Elvis Presley or not, you cannot dispute the talent of the man, or incredible body of work he was responsible for creating.

Our Southern tour included giving a workshop on Home Movie Archiving in New Orleans to rescue some water damaged film, a visit to the amazing archives at The Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, with a stop at Gus’s Fried Chicken, a visit to Birmingham to the Civil Rights Museum and the church where the tragic 1964 shooting of 3 little girls shot and The Watson’s Go To Birmingham was Filmed (my company Pro8mm worked on the recreated Super 8 Film scenes for the Hallmark Hall of Fame Movie,) and of course, a stop at where Martin Luther King was shot outside the Lorraine Hotel and Sun Studios in Memphis to see and feel the intimacy of this legendary studio where Elvis recorded, and scenes of the John Mellencamp film “It’s About You” were shot – done exclusive with our Pro8mm film, processing and scanning , shot by filmmaker Kurt Markus. Graceland was not on the itinerary.

As we arrived, very early in the morning to have a jumpstart on the heat and the crowds and caught that first glimpse through the gates at this larger than life tribute to the work of one person, I realized that gift shops and tourist junk aside, that what Graceland was really about was giving total access to a families archival and legacy material. On par with Presidential Libraries, this was an archive built in and around his home, where the family and the Elvis Presley Foundation gets to decide and create how the “Kings’ Legacy will be kept alive. By creating an experience through dozens of displays, showcasing everything from Gold Records, Movie Posters, Jumpsuits, photos, and home movies as well as cars, jewelry and other memorabilia, that by the time we leave we feel an intimate connection to someone we already thought we knew well.

Many years ago we had transferred some home movies for the Presley family, and have seen many private home movie collections with Elvis footage that they captured during his personal appearances. What an enormous thrill for me it was to see this footage playing at different places throughout the estate.

So what can we learn from this? The lesson is really quite simple. We want to create a microcosm of Graceland to honor our own family. We want to find other people who might have footage about our loved ones. We want to have an “open archive” so that our families, descendants and even the public know about the contributions our loved ones made to the community, family, church, military or business. This is the living legacy we leave , and the benefit is that it puts an end to Suspicious Minds.